First Sawbench

In my quest down the Schwarz path of handtool anarchy I decided to build a saw bench. Out here in California the best thing I could find was Doug Fir. Finding a board not completely full of knots, reasonably straight and not 50% water was a chore. The only power tool used was the bandsaw for ripping down the 2X6 and cutting the notch. Never handplaned so much wood in my life. The kids were having a ball playing in the mountain of shavings. I’ve always had a hard time sawing to a line but it worked like a charm in the soft fir. Had a number of hickups in laying out the angled rabbit in the top of the legs and ended up having to switch the legs around (that explains the kerfs at the feet). This of course put the nasty knotted end of each leg at the top but I still managed to make do. Gluing up the legs was a nightmare. I did indeed keep the cutoffs but did not tape them on (following instructions is not my best skill). In the end I drilled and screwed the legs to keep them in place while the glue dried. I will probably do the same on the next one I build as well. At any rate it is all together and for the first time in my life I was able to use a handsaw to rip a board more than 6” in length! Of course at the very last stroke the waste snapped off and the saw jumped over and took a chunk out of the notch HAHA! Such is life….

I’m with the other guys – it looks great! have you had a chance to use it yet?? I’m going to soon make one out of Ash from Tom Fidgen’s design and it seems daunting :\ The wood is acclimating in my shop room now. :)

-- Beka/Becky - aspiring jill of all trades, still learning to not read the directions.